The exciting story of Freddy, the tortoise who won a prosthetic hoof made using a 3D printer

Freddy’s story could be very different if a couple hadn’t found it in a forest in Brasilia. The tortoise was in a place where there was a fire and was taken, for these friends, until Dr. Rodrigo Rabello.

With the fire, her hull was affected by fire and 85% of her volume was lost. Thus, Freddy’s chances of survival were very slim, as she was unprotected and her organs were almost exposed.🇧🇷 “It was a great risk for her to approach sharp objects or even to be under the sun’s rays”, he explains. graphic designer Cícero Moraes, who participated in the production process of the new hull.

“In 2013, we started to study the processes of creating prostheses using 3D computer graphics, but at that time, we didn’t even really understand how a 3D printer worked. In 2015, Dr. Paulo Miamoto acquired a printer and I had already mastered the process of creating prostheses, with the technical help of Dr. Roberto Fecchio. In conversation with Dr. Rabello, he learned about Freddy’s need and, naturally, the idea of ​​creating a prosthesis for her came up”, recalls Cícero.

The work was divided into three fronts. “In the first one, for which I was responsible, we developed the 3D hoof prosthesis, from three-dimensional data created by photogrammetry (3D scanning by photos) on Freddy and on another animal with a complete hoof. So, we created a prosthesis divided into four parts that fit together”, mentions the designer.

A second moment was dedicated to 3D printing and part preparation. This phase was on behalf of Dr. Paulo Miamoto, who is a dental surgeon. “To give you an idea, printing each part took an average of 50 hours. A whole week was needed to print and treat the hull!”, he recalls.

The third and final stage, in turn, was the placement of the prosthesis during a surgical procedure, which lasted four hours and took place in Santos, under the care of veterinarians Dr. Roberto Fecchio, Dr. Rodrigo Rabello, Dr. Matheus Rabello and Dr. Sergio Camargo.

The prosthesis was made of PLA, a plastic created from corn starch or sugar cane. After it was printed and tested for months, the team was able to rely on the work of Brazilian artist Yuri Caldeira, who did an incredible realistic painting and made Freddy’s appearance even more natural.

Despite the initiative being memorable, the team faced a series of difficulties throughout the process, which lasted three months, start to finish, in July 2015🇧🇷 Among the main challenges mentioned, friends did not have technical reference and, almost always, the conversations were virtual. Through instant communicators, e-mails and videoconferences, the team was able to organize itself and achieve its great and noble objective. “We were discouraged, at times, when seeing that our attempts did not find the desired success in the technical application, but we raised our heads, even more motivated, to solve that stage, once and for all. From small victory to small victory, we were able to create the hull and give back a full life to our dear Freddy! celebrates Cicero.

Freddy’s new hull is the first in the world to be completely modeled to replace the original structure🇧🇷 However, it is not the team’s only work at the forefront of 3D printing prosthetics. “We also created the first toucan beak and the first parrot beak, proceeded with the first surgery to place a macaw beak printed in metal (titanium), as well as the first goose and araçari beaks – a bird that resembles the toucan”, shoots Cícero.

As far as procedures of the type in veterinary medicine are concerned, this is undoubtedly a big milestone🇧🇷 “We showed that it is possible to use technology to recover the compromised functions of an animal. More than that, we did everything with open technology, we used low-cost printers, 3D scanning techniques from photographs accessible to anyone, free and open source software, all based on veterinary technology tested and approved for decades”, he points out.

According to the designer, it is possible that, in the future, Freddy will need a new prosthesis. “We are more prepared, and so the whole process will take a fraction of the time it took the first time,” celebrates Cicero – and so do we! <3